There is a phenomenal usage of mobile phone by consumers primarily in the emerging markets such as China and India. Consumers are extensively using mobile services such as SMS, MMS and other mobile applications. This platform provides excellent opportunity for the marketers to position their brands and products.

Recently, the wave of QR codes has emerged in the Indian market. Therefore, the authors aims to study the effect of QR codes on consumer attitude that include attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the brand and purchase intention of the consumers towards those brands that uses QR codes in their advertisement. This study was conducted on the young consumers (Gen Y) who were in the age of 18-26 years.

This segment adopts and engages in mobile technology quickly. First, pre-test was carried to identify the product in which consumers would like QR codes .All the leading newspapers and magazines were studied to locate the product that has used QR codes in the print advertisement. A list of 12 products was developed after this review process. It was given to the respondents and they were asked to rank the product according to the QR codes preference in the advertisement.

It was found that consumers like to have QR codes in car and chocolate advertisements. Second, four fictitious print ads were developed to conduct the experiments on the consumers which included chocolate ad with QR code, chocolate ad without QR codes, car ad with QR codes and car ad without QR codes .

These ads were shown to the consumers and their attitudinal responses were collected. It was found that QR codes were effective for the car print advertisement as it was able to change the consumer attitude towards the product. Consumers want QR codes in the car advertisements as they can scan it through their smart phone, gather more information about the product and then develop their purchase decision.

In product such as cars comprehensive information is required by the consumers before making the purchase as the prices are high. QR codes facilitate the consumers to collect the data and information in an effective manner. QR codes have a high potential to emerge as a strong marketing tool especially for generation Y in the coming future.